WASHINGTON – United States Senators Mary Landrieu, D-La. and David Vitter, R-La., and Representative Charles Boustany, R-La., today sent a letter to President Bush requesting that he provide relief from an Executive Order that is negatively impacting the residents of Cameron Parish in the wake of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. The Executive Order in question prohibits many residents from setting up temporary mobile homes on their property, forcing them to live in tents instead.

“Cameron Parish residents are in desperate need of temporary housing as the parish had few rental resources before the storms, and the major industries in the area — oil/gas and seafood — necessitate a nearby workforce,” the letter states.

“The Executive Order prohibits federal funds from being expended to completely rebuild a severely damaged facility or to set up temporary mobile homes in an area determined to be in a ‘high velocity flood zone’ (V-Zone). This is an area that faces significant risk in the event of wave action or flooding. For Cameron Parish, flood maps made in 2005 and adopted by state and local officials, placed 30 percent of Cameron Parish in the V-Zone. However, recently updated Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps, which have been proposed by not adopted by local governments, have place 83 percent of the parish in the V-Zone.”

The letter states that because the Executive Order prohibits FEMA from a shift back to the old maps, humanitarian assistance is not reaching disaster victims in Cameron Parish and the local economy is being severely impacted. Although the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is willing to set up community sites in the parish and provide transportation assistance for some residents, this solution will not fully solve the problem.

“The parish spans 1,932 square miles and for employees in the seafood and oil/gas industries, bus transportation is simply not effective — especially for shift workers,” The letter states. “Furthermore, not allowing homeowners to reside near their properties and employment could impact the local economy and also discourage individual mitigation efforts.”

The letter asks that the President provide a limited waiver from the Executive Order (Executive Order 11-9-88) for Gustav/Ike recovery efforts in Cameron Parish until June 1, 2009. If such a waiver is approved, the state of Louisiana will use flood maps created in 2005 as a guide to the boundaries of the V-Zone until June 1, 2009 instead of the new Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps until June 1, 2009. The state of Louisiana will also negotiate with FEMA on the terms of temporary housing placed in Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map areas and on costs for removing units before June 1, 2009. 

Last month, Sen. Landrieu and Rep. Boustany met with FEMA Administrator R. David Paulison and Cameron Parish head of Planning and Development Ernie Broussard regarding the obstacles facing Cameron Parish in their recovery from Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. While Sen. Landrieu and Rep. Boustany were cautiously optimistic on the progress that had been made toward finding housing solutions in Cameron Parish, they reiterated their concerns on the far-reaching impact of this particular Executive Order dating from the 1970s.

At the time, Administrator Paulison indicated that FEMA would make efforts to ease some of the burdens facing Cameron’s residents. The Administrator said FEMA would use commercial sites outside the V-Zone to house eligible applicants for housing assistance. Although the sites may be as far as 30 miles away in some cases, FEMA offered to cover the transportation costs for applicants who are housed at these sites but need to get to the coast, where they are employed.

In addition, the Administrator told Sen. Landrieu and Rep. Boustany that FEMA was trying to locate additional “pads” where mobile “community sites” could be built and directing area FEMA officials to do site-by-site analysis to determine whether individual sites, because of different ground elevation and other factors, may actually be outside the V-Zone and thereby eligible for temporary housing assistance and rebuilding.

A full copy of the letter sent to the President can be viewed here.

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